


Rock Candy

by Autaria



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - rock climbing, First Date, Getting Together, Getting to know you, M/M, Rock climbing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 13:22:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4830617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autaria/pseuds/Autaria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Tony owns a climbing gym, and his love life is as exciting as watching paint dry, till one day Steve walks in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rock Candy

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, a work which combines my two loves, writing and climbing :) There's some climbing jargon in this, but it's all been explained, so.  
> Also, I hope non-climbers don't think we just get up on the wall and climb wherever we want, there are actually specific climbing routes :p

In the late morning, which was the opening time for _Iron Man_ , the climbing gym was usually empty. The peak hour began around six, when most climbers got off work and wanted to spend the rest of their day unwinding with a good climb. That was usually the time when the gym was packed, the bouldering area crammed with people trying out new climbing routes and others fighting for space to climb at the high wall area. Now _that_ was chaos. But in the morning and early afternoon, it was peaceful and quiet, with the occasional climber or two, but still generally calm, allowing Tony to get some climbing time to himself before he had to man the counter and deal with non-stop registrations at the peak hour. 

It was ten on a Monday morning, and although Tony would usually be found working on some of the new routes in the bouldering gym at this time, today he was busy taking a complete inventory of all the equipment in the gym, with the help of some of the employees. There had been a new shipment of climbing shoes and harnesses, and Clint – one of the employees – had also destroyed a substantial proportion of the existing equipment within his first week of working at _Iron Man_ , so the numbers were all over the place and Tony had hoped to be done with this bullshit in a couple of hours, tops, so he could go climb. 

“Thirty,” Thor counted, tossing another carabiner into the box. “Thirty-one. Thirty-two. Thirty-three.” He paused, inspecting a rusted golden carabiner that he’d picked from the pile of equipment in front of him. “Defective. Thirty-four. Thirty-five.” 

“Hey, be careful with those,” Natasha hissed from where she was unloading boxes of new climbing shoes. “Drop ‘em once and we can’t use them anymore.” Thor was one of the strongest climbers ever to step foot into _Iron Man_ , but he had a tendency to be unable to control his strength at times. 

“My apologies, Lady Natasha,” Thor echoed, placing the carabiners much more gently into the box. “Thirty-six. Thirty-seven.”

“I think we’re missing a rope,” Tony frowned, scratching at his beard as he re-counted the number of coiled ropes on the shelves. “That’s weird, I thought I had ten here yesterday.” 

“Thirty-nine carabiners and two defective ones,” Thor concluded, just as a resounding crash came from the doorway of the small logistics room, startling Tony into dropping his clipboard and Natasha into throwing up whatever she was holding in her hands. All three occupants looked up to see Clint sprawled out on the floor, groaning, with smaller boxes scattered around his being. 

“Let’s try not to destroy more equipment, shall we, birdbrain?” Tony deadpanned as Thor reached a hand out to help Clint up, and Natasha bent down wordlessly to help pick up all the dropped boxes. “Be right back, I’m going to check with the front counter if they’ve got a spare rope.” 

Tony jogged out of the stuffy room, taking a few moments to savor the fresh Brooklyn morning air - the morning rush hour was over, so that meant no more noxious car fumes. It took him less than twenty strides to get to the front counter, where climbers had to register and pay before they could use the facilities. Bruce was sat at the desk, his nose in a training guidebook, but he immediately tossed that away when he noticed Tony approaching. And that should have been the first warning bell that went off in Tony’s head. Bruce never abandoned a book that he was halfway through reading. 

“Tony,” Bruce waved him over, sounding excited. “A new guy just signed in, he’s inside now –”

“You’re not planning to hook me up with a random stranger you and I both know nothing about, are you?” Tony cut his friend off, frowning. “Look, I told you, I’m not ready to begin this dating thing again yet, it’s barely been two months since Ty and I broke up –”

“No, listen,” Bruce’s voice began to sound a little higher pitched. “He’s got blond hair and blue eyes, and he’s the cutest thing to step into this gym since Loki. Almost makes me wish I swung that way. And he seems like a decent, down-to-earth guy.” 

“I don’t –”

“And he came here alone, isn’t that great? Perfect chance for you to chat him up. Come on, Tony, you’ve been moping around since the break-up, and to be honest you’ve been a little grumpier and more overbearing than you are usually –”

“Tony Stark is never _grumpy_ –”

“And you could use someone new in your life, someone decent, who’s not like that rotten dumb scumbag Tiberius, to keep you occupied so you won’t spend all your time here, we can manage the gym ourselves and we’re getting sick of seeing your face around here so often –”

“I’ll have you know, my face is the most handsome you’ll ever get in this city –”

“And I know you’re taking inventory, but Natasha can totally handle being in charge, she’s real scary when she wants to be and I’m sure she’ll get the job done, so just grab your climbing shoes and hop inside and ask him out for coffee or something.” Bruce grabbed the clipboard out of Tony’s hand and shoved him in the direction of the climbing area.

Realizing that this was one battle he’d never win, Tony grumbled and snagged his climbing shoes and chalkbag from his locker, heading inside the gym to go climb and also check out the guy that Bruce wouldn’t stop yammering on about. 

The break-up with Tiberius was still fresh in his mind as he ascended the staircase to the bouldering area. He’d come home one day to their shared apartment in midtown Manhattan one day, exhausted from working twelve-hour shifts at _Iron Man_ , and he had opened the door to get the shock of his life. His boyfriend of three years had been _making out_ with another guy on their couch, whilst soft music played in the background. The same songs that Tiberius had played for Tony on their first date. He’d stormed out after that, not able to handle being in the same room as that _two-timing jerk_ with whom he had even once discussed marriage with.

And ever since then, his friends had been simply difficult to deal with, trying to hook him up with their own single gay friends, putting his information on a dating website, and even trying to set him up on a blind date with some guy who worked at their rival climbing gym, HYDRA. He shuddered at the memory of the last one. Perhaps it was time he put his foot down, he was sick and tired of getting –

…and Tony’s metaphorical train of thought immediately derailed and crashed, as he took in the sight of the new climber who was currently working out one of the easiest climbing routes on the walls. Golden blond hair, blue eyes, just like Bruce had said, but he had failed to mention anything about the _shade_ that his eyes came in – a beautiful baby blue hue. The rest of his face was equally as beautiful – a sharp nose, an adorable tongue that poked out from in between his lips as he tried to concentrate on his climb. And those sculpted muscles on his bulked frame – Tony swore he could hear angel choruses. 

_Oh god,_ Bruce had been right, this guy was _cute._ Tony allowed himself to drool at the sight of the man’s body a little while longer before he straightened, fixing his gym clothes and hair, making sure he was presentable. How should he present himself? Amicable and approachable? Snarky but charming? Cool and confident? What should he say to make the cute guy go out with him?

“A V1?” The words just slipped from his mouth, a little weaker than he’d liked, and for a moment Tony desperately hoped that the guy hadn’t heard him, but seeing as they were the only two people in the gym at that moment, there was absolutely no chance that his words would escape the guy’s notice. Startled, the cute guy released his grip on the wall and fell onto the mattress-lined floor. 

“I’m sorry!” Tony rushed over to the guy, giving him the once-over for any injuries. _Way to go for a good first impression._ “I’m sorry, I thought you’d have heard me coming up –”

“A V1?” The cute guy echoed, apparently having recovered from his fall enough to sit up and stare at Tony with those deep, enrapturing eyes. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, a V1. That means an easy climbing route,” Tony explained, reaching out a hand to help him up. Was the guy new around here, such that he didn’t know the grading system for climbing routes? Usually newbies to the climbing sport had little muscle, but this guy in front of him had biceps the size of Tony’s face. And if Tony had X-ray vision, able to see through shirts, he’d be willing to wager that this dude had washboard abs. “Uh, you might want to try something a little more advanced.” 

“I’m, er, actually new here,” the new guy grinned sheepishly, and – was he _blushing?_ That was absolutely adorable. “I’ve never done rock climbing before, so I thought starting out easy and gradually progressing would be better for me.” 

This guy had never climbed before and yet his muscles were twice the size of Tony’s? His workout regimen must be something serious. Tony made a mental note to ask what exercises he did. “That’s true, but I’m pretty sure you should be able to handle something much more advanced right now,” Tony frowned, looking around the walls for a harder climbing route. “Here, try this one,” he pointed. “This one’s for intermediate climbers.” 

The guy did, and although his footwork was a little clumsy, his movements unfamiliar, it was enlightening to watch his muscles ripple as he worked through the route. Tony had to force himself to physically shut his mouth before anybody noticed. 

“That was fun,” the guy smiled as he dropped from the wall after completing the route, landing in a crouching position. “Thank you, uh…”

“Tony.” 

“Thanks for the advice, Tony. I’m Steve.” 

_Steve._ It was a plain, simple name, but it suited the new guy all the same. “You’re welcome, Steve.” Tony could feel himself easing into his confident _Tony Stark_ façade, one that he usually saved for impressing people. “So, what brings you around to our humble gym? We don’t usually get new climbers.” 

“Oh,” Steve blushed again – could this guy stop looking so _adorable_ all the time? He had no idea what it was doing to Tony. “I’m actually back from my military tour of Afghanistan, and they’re posting me to stay in Brooklyn permanently to train and recruit new officers. The new job gives me quite a bit of spare time, now, so I decided to try something new. One of my friends – Bucky – trains here, so he was the one who gave me the recommendation.”

“Barnes?” Tony was incredulous. “That cocky guy who always pops up on Thursday nights and shows off by challenging everybody to a pull-up contest?” 

“That sure sounds a lot like Bucky,” Steve laughed. “He was supposed to climb with me today, to help me out, get me started, since I’m a beginner, but something last-minute cropped up.” 

“I see,” Tony shrugged. “Well, I could help you out there. Climbing’s actually quite fun, you’ll realize. People make it sound so boring – what’s so fun about grabbing tiles and pulling yourself up a wall, only to come back down anyway – but I assure you, it’s really not like that.” 

“I’d appreciate it,” Steve replied, and _this was getting ridiculous_ , did he really have to smile that heartbreaking smile every time he talked to Tony? It was bordering on the edge of annoying.

“Great,” Tony smirked. “Let’s try something else.”


End file.
